RAYMOND — In a penalty-filled game, one offsides flag cost the Hinds Community College Eagles a chance to rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Hinds freshman Godfrey Thompson’s interception and 45-yard return with six minutes left in the game was disallowed because the Eagles’ defense was caught offsides. Instead of having the ball at the Copiah-Lincoln 20 and a golden chance to cut into the Wolves’ 27-17 lead, Co-Lin was able to set up a clinching 37-yard field goal from Justin Danise to lock up a 30-17 MACJC South Division victory Thursday night at Joe Renfroe Stadium.

The loss ended a 2-0 start for the Eagles and will likely knock Hinds out of the NJCAA Top 20 poll. Co-Lin, which came in ranked 16, improves to 3-0.

Hinds coach Gene Murphy said his team did not match the intensity or poise from its first two wins.

“The biggest thing is that we didn’t play like the team we had been the first two weeks,” Murphy said. “But I still believe in this team. They are committed to turning this program around. They will learn a lesson from this. We didn’t come ready to play, and that’s not to take anything from Co-Lin, because they outplayed us.”

Co-Lin coach Glenn Davis wished his team could’ve played better. They were flagged 11 times for 102 yards. Six of the flags were personal fouls that gave Hinds’ offense automatic first downs and kept alive two of its three scoring drives.

“I’m going to be seeing flags in my sleep,” Davis said afterwards. “The kids played hard. We moved the ball and made big plays, which is something we hadn’t done before tonight. A lot of the flags we got were effort plays, like the two late hits on the quarterback. I can live with those.”

The Wolves lived up to their name, bedeviling Hinds quarterback Anthony Shepherd. He was dropped 11 times behind scrimmage, with seven of them sacks, for a combined 86 yards in lost yardage. He also lost a fumble and threw an interception under constant pressure.

Shepherd completed 11-of-23 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns. One of the TDs was a 16-yard toss to former Vicksburg High star Les Lemons, and the other, a 12-yarder, went to Dylan Davis.

Matthew Willis, who came into the game as the nation’s leading rusher at 176 yards per game, was held to 108 yards on 22 carries.

Co-Lin, meanwhile, got a 67-yard TD run from Titus Mobley and a 96-yard kickoff return from Fred Fuller to build a 20-3 lead late into the second quarter.

Hinds came back after a 16-yard punt return set up Shepherd’s TD toss to Lemons that made it 20-10 with 40 seconds to go in the half.

Co-Lin needed just 34 seconds to answer the score as Percy Turner threw a 32-yard touchdown to Jeffrey Collins to make it 27-10. Turner had a 12-yard TD pass on the Wolves’ first series.

Shepherd’s 12-yard TD toss to Davis finished off a 17-play drive in the third quarter to make it 27-17. The Wolves had a late hit and then were later called for aiding a kick blocker after Hinds had missed a 42-yard field goal.